


Cheese

by EverytimeIDoSomethingStupid (kingkongkitty)



Series: The story of a cleric [4]
Category: None - Fandom
Genre: D&D, OC, Other, wheelie bin of shame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 12:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7976248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingkongkitty/pseuds/EverytimeIDoSomethingStupid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the fourth little bit of backstory for my half-elf cleric Filegedhiel. Hope you enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheese

Fil threaded her way through the crowd, panting heavily, body thrumming with adrenaline as she darted about the closest street corner. She ran through the back alleys, pulling off her jacket and the cap she’d bundled her hair up in, letting it all spill out in a waterfall of silver.

Getting her breathing in check, she walked back onto the main street, wrapping the stolen goods in the discarded jacket and blending in with the crowd, walking back towards the store. She could hear the shopkeeper yelling about a boy in a red cap stealing her cheese, and as she passed by, wasn’t spared a second glance by the very person she’d robbed.

A triumphant grin on her face, she headed swiftly to the nook she lived in, the top half of a barn that was abandoned in early spring. When summer came she’d have to leave as the farmers stacked the barn full of hay, but for now she could stay out of sight and be undisturbed.

She laid her spoils out on the makeshift table, consisting of a broken pallet resting on a bale of hay left over from last years winter. A full wheel of cheese joined the two loaves of bread and half dozen apples she’d swiped over the day. They’d have to last her for a week, but with this much cheese, she could sell it on, make a little coin, at least enough to feed her legally for a month or two, although you never quite got the same rush buying things as you did stealing them.

Fil pulled a dagger out, slicing the wheel of cheese into two quarters and then several chunks. She’d been living in Pavv for almost a year now, and she knew where she could take her spoils for money. There was a kitchen that she could give a quarter of the cheese to and be guaranteed a hot dinner for the week, the other quarter was for the week after, and the chunks were for the urchin kids who could only dream of luxuries like this and would hand over a few coppers - more if she could persuade them - and one little sliver was for her. She’d eat it slowly over the next few days, enjoying every last morsel.

As she set aside the items with care, a small rustle alerted her to the presence of a tiny mouse. She froze, not wanting to scare the poor thing off. It looked half starved, shaking even in the slight warmth of the barn.

“Hey little guy.” She spoke quietly, soothingly, the elvish slipping from her tongue as naturally as breathing. “You don’t look too good.”

The mouse’s head snapped towards her, whiskers quivering with fear as she continued to mumble softly, keeping her tone soft and gentle.

After a few minutes, the mouse relaxed slightly, scampering toward her in small bursts of energy until he reached her outstretched hand. With the slightest curl of her fingers, the mouse was seated on the palm of her hand.

Fil reached out, breaking a small chunk of cheese from her sliver, placing it by the mouse and smiling as he picked it up, nibbling it with relish. “So you like that huh?”

She curled a finger to run it down the mouse’s spine. The mouse’s short black fur was soft, surprisingly so. “You’re a runt, aren’t you?” The mouse was small, the smallest of weights in the palm of her hand, body warm but bony.

He twisted at her voice, looking at her expectantly and with a sigh she grabbed another bit of cheese, handing it to the eagerly awaiting mouse. “That’s your last piece ok. I need the rest to sell.”

Despite her words, she ended up feeding the mouse three of the chunks before letting him down onto the floor, where he scampered away, disappearing into the shadows at the sides of the room.

Fil sighed unhappily at his disappearance. She’d hoped the mouse would’ve stayed around for a while. Pushing down her disappointment she gathered up the remaining cheese and headed out onto the streets to sell as much as she could.

-=-

It had gone well. After a few hours all cheese was gone, with the exception of the quarter she’d stored back in the barn, and her shoes were heavy with coin, jingling with every step, as if she’d sewn bells onto the toes of her shoes.

She lay down on a pile of hay and pulled her blanket over her as she counted the coins, working out how much she had and smiling with satisfaction. Half the coppers were emptied out into a tin she hid in the corner of the barn, the rest were added into her food budget.

She lay back, getting comfortable on the straw pallet, knowing night was soon to fall. As the last rays of sun trickled from the room, she saw the smallest flash of light in the corner.

Two large, round eyes and a pair of whiskers looked back at her. A grin spreading across her face with joy at her new friend, Fil spoke into the darkness.

“I think I’ll call you Cheese. You like it well enough.”


End file.
